88 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



Canada field peas have been recommended, but they make a poor 

 winter cover and are of no use in spring. 



In orchards which require an addition of nitrogen, — and what 

 orchard in Maine does not require more of this element — the 

 vetches are strongly recommended. Crimson clover is used 

 farther south, but has not proved satisfactory in this climate. 

 The winter, or hairy vetch {vicia villosa) is the one most largely 

 used in orchard sections, and it is almost an ideal plant for this 

 purpose. The cost of seed is almost prohibitive at present, how- 

 ever. The spring vetch {Vicia sativa) is a larger leaved and 

 slightly stronger growing plant than the hairy vetch, and makes 

 an admirable cover for fall and winter ; but of course the plants 

 are killed by the cold weather. [Photographs taken in the 

 orchard at the Experiment Station May 20, this year, were used 

 to illustrate the points mentioned.] 



An additional advantage of cover crops on stony land needs 

 only to be suggested to be appreciated. The loss of fruit during 

 high winds, in the absence of some protection, will frequently 

 be considerably more than the cost of time, labor and seed for 

 the cover crop, to say nothing of the advantages already men- 

 tioned. 



As to specific results from the use of tillage and cover crops 

 I can only refer you to the work which has been carried on under 

 my direction at the Experiment Station and in the orchard of 

 Mr. Charles S. Pope of Manchester. Mr. Pope's orchard is in 

 the heart of one of Maine's best orchard counties, and is much 

 better suited for studies of this kind than is the Station orchard 

 at Orono. The details of this work are clearly stated in Bulletin 

 39 of the Maine Experiment Station, and I need only give a 

 summary of results at this time. 



For a comparison of the eflr'ects of cultivation and mulch, as 

 well as of the use of different kinds of fertilizers, a young 

 orchard of Tallman's and Gravensteins was selected in 1898. 

 The trees were eight to ten years old at this time. The trees 

 w^ere planted 25 x 30 feet apart. The soil was a rocky, sandy, 

 virgin loam pasture with an eastern aspect. No cultivation was 

 given and no special attention paid to the orchard, except to 

 keep out borers and give an occasional mulching, until May, 

 1898, when the work was taken up by the Experiment Station. 



